hi..after trawling through the mls i seem only able to find the 'newer' type housing in alberta...are there any area's of older style....classic brick or weatherboard...looking for something 50 + years old...something without the classic 'double garage' in front look..any area's considered.many thanks,howardk.

You're not too likely to find a garage in front on older homes, more likely in a back lane.

Brick here isn't brick in the traditional sense it is in the UK either (as in cavity wall construction with brick and breeze, or thermal block). The property is still timber framed, but instead of wood or vinyl siding, brick is applied as a cosmetic layer in the same way that wood or whatever is used - it isn't 'structural'. The reason you don't see a lot of brick used is simply expense.

As for areas with older homes - you'd have to be a bit more specific than just "Alberta". Pretty much every where will have some older properties. The MLS listing usually states the year the property was built.

Edit to add: Sorry, Mis-read; thought you WERE looking for a garage on the front, my mistake

hi calgal....don't really mind where in alberta....just looking for an area with 'older' homes...when we were in london,ontario for example altho' the city had a real mix of different types of property there were several 'suburbs' with a good selection of 'classic older ' properties...so just wondering which towns/cities would have a better proportion of older homes for choice....if that all makes sense....thanks,howard

In Calgary and Edmonton, you'll find so called "character homes" closer to the inner city. It stands to reason. The cities were started in what now are the downtown cores, and they grew outwards from there. So the older houses are closer in.

Since Calgary is the city that I'm most familiar with, I'll mention the Calgary neighbourhoods that tend to have older houses in them. And by the way, something built in 1912 is considered really old by Calgary standards. After all, Alberta joined the Canadian confederation only in 1905. There was a huge fire in Calgary in something like 1904, and much of the town, such as it was at that point, was burned to the ground. There is very little in Calgary that pre-dates that fire.

If you go to the MLS map of Calgary and look at District C, the communities that have older houses in them include Cliff Bungalow, Elbow Park, Mount Royal (which is Calgary's snob district), Lower Mount Royal, and Scarboro.

In District A, you could look at Crescent Heights, Rosedale, West Hillhurst and some of Parkdale.

It may not seem so to you if you're coming here with British pounds in your pockets, but to those of us who earn Canadian dollars, the neighbourhoods that I've mentioned are expensive. There is a premium on being close to downtown.

Edited to add that I typed my post before I'd seen your response to Calgal.

Edited to add yet another point. Brick has poor insulating properties. That is another reason, apart from the fact that it is more expensive than wood, why it is not used as a primary building material on the prairies, where the winters are colder than they are in Southern Ontario.

Hi Howard

I will be joining my hubby in a town called Lethbridge and there is an area of that town called "The London Road" (years ago all of the streets in town had names like we do here but when they changed into 1st st etc they still know the area by London Road) it is on the south side of town quite near to downtown and it is quite a quaint area .

Here are some of the properties :

http://www.mls.ca/PropertyDetails.as...ertyID=5254503

http://www.mls.ca/PropertyDetails.as...ertyID=5377396

Alternatively if you search mls for the town in Southern Alberta you could find some more (also use www.homesacrosscanada.com)

Hope this is ok
Gay
x

Judy,
Mission? Inglewood? Ramsay? Victoria Park?

I think Mission mostly has been taken over by apartments, hasn't it? Inglewood and Victoria Park are in the process of being gentrified but, depending on the individual's taste, may still be a bit dodgy. Also, Victoria Park looks as if it's set to be swept up in condo development in the very near future (although that's good for those who already own property there).